Extinct
by SuperBlackdeth666
Summary: An asteroid the size of a huge mountain crashes into the Earth in what is now known as the Gulf of Mexico, and all life on Earth seems doomed to go extinct. How will our prehistoric pals survive this catastrophe?
1. Prologue (THAT NO EARTH SHAKE!)

All across the world, the great reptilian beasts known as dinosaurs were in a state of decay. For 160 million years, these wonderous monsters had reigned planet Earth with an iron fist, sweeping aside all other creatures standing in their way, as well as each other. But now, that reign had been showing telltale signs that it was nearing a sickly end.

For the past few centuries, volcanoes (or smoking mountains, as they were called back then) everywhere had sprung to life like wildfire, erupting nonstop for years and years, blanketing the Earth's atmosphere with all sorts of poisonous gases and debris. Quality oxygen had become more difficult to come by, as it has been coated with acidic pollution the likes of which had not been seen before. Said pollution had made it rather a miracle even for new dinosaurs and other related creatures to be hatched into their world, as it had prevented eggshells from forming properly, leaving embryos unprotected from the elements and causing them to die while still in their eggs. Even the ones that survived had even tougher times than before doing so, as food and drinkable water had become more and more scarce from the poisoning of the atmosphere. With all of these hardships, life on Earth appeared as if it were choking to death.

Even so, life in the Great Valley continued on as peaceful and prosperous as it always had. The Great Valley was an oasis located in the middle of a vast, barren landscape known simply to its inhabitants as the Mysterious Beyond; rivers that flowed underground broke the surface in the valley, feeding it the clean, fresh water that its inhabitants lived on, as well as providing nourishment for the plants that the dinosaurs feasted on. Additionally, the mountains around the valley (known colloquially as the Great Wall), protected these gentle giants from the carnivorous theropd dinosaurs (which they called "Sharpteeth") who sought to feed on them for their own sustinence.

This particular day was another one of those typical peaceful, sunny occasions. In a clearing just outside of the undergrowth, a pair of juvenile dinosaurs were having a playful jousting match. One of these dinos was called Littlefoot; a friendly little Apatosaurus (a type of sauropod, which was something known to his peers as "Longnecks") who liked making friends with all sorts of creatures - a practice many in the dinosaur kingdom frowned upon due to personal prejudices. One of these friends was a female Triceratops (a type of "Three-horn", as they called them) named Cera; an aggressive, emotionally insecure sort of creature - she's the one who Littlefoot is jousting with at the moment.

Though the two were the best of friends, they did tend to pick fights, whether they were playful or serious. Fortunately, this was just a little playful contest, which was closely watched by their other friends - Petrie, the timid Pteranodon (or Flyer), Ducky, the sweet innocent Saurolophus (or Swimmer), and Spike, the dimwitted, illiterate Stegosaurus (or Spike-Tail) and Ducky's adoptive brother.

"Nine wins in a row for me," Cera smirked as she pawed the ground, prepping for another round. "I really don't know why you keep trying, Littlefoot. Face it, you just can't beat me!"

Trying not to let her mind games get through to him, Littlefoot simply scoffed it off. "Oh, this time will be the charm for sure!"

"That's what you said the last seven times!" Cera blustered. "Now charge at me, you!"

And with a great collective leap, the two friends charged at each other, looking to dish out some damage...

"Ha! Got ya again!" Cera celebrates as Littlefoot was thrown over onto his backside by the impact as their other friends looked on.

"Look like Cera win again, I suppose." shrugged Petrie.

"It would be nice if Littlefoot could take her down once in a while," affirmed Ducky. "It would, it would."

Spike said nothing; he simply let out a grunt of agreement as Littlefoot rolled himself back up onto his feet.

"OK, fine, I can't beat you," Littlefoot nonchalantly acknowledged. "Now can we do something else? Besides, your horn is making me bruise."

"Yeah, this is getting quite repetitive," Cera admitted. "So, uh, now whaddya wanna-"

"WHOA!" Littlefoot suddenly exclaimed. "Who turned on the lights?!"

"Is the Bright Circle (we call that the Sun) acting up or something?" added Cera.

"Me no know!" whimpered Petrie as he shielded his eyes with his wings.

Indeed, the sky has suddenly turned into a bright white - almost as bright as the Bright Circle itself. Our prehistoric pals shielded their eyes as best as they could, trying to protect themselves from this sudden burst of burning light.

But then, just like that, the light faded out, and for a moment everything seemed to have proceeded back to normal.

"Whew, I am glad that is-"

But before Ducky could finish her sentence, a sudden jolt shook the very ground underneath them. Said shaking only lasted for a second, but it was more than enough to scare our pals senseless.

"What was THAT?!" Ducky cried out. "Was it an earthquake? Huh? Huh?!"

At that precise moment, Petrie glanced over and saw something advancing towards them over the horizon, something that was hellbent on consuming them all alive; something that could spell the end for all life on Earth.

"Uh, guys," he squeaked. "THAT NO EARTH SHAKE!"


	2. Impact

And they all saw it; a blast wave of dust, glass and ash hurtling towards them from the distance.

The Earth had just been hit by an asteroid (or as they called it, a flying rock); something that everyone in the Great Valley had seen before and were normally not concerned about. However, the asteroid that had just hit the plant about 1000 miles away was huge, about the size of the highest mountains that existed, and was traveling at a speed of 45000 miles per hour upon impact. When the monsterous rock hit what would eventually become known as the Gulf of Mexico, it gouged out a crater that would be known as Chicxulub, and sent the aforementioned blast wave out in all directions, which would, within the impending hour, go around the entire world, incinerating everything in its path.

The ground quaked as the wave got closer and closer to the Great Valley, and our prehistoric pals began to panic compulsively, fearing for their very lives, which flashed before all of their eyes. But they were all too panicked to notice the issues thereof.

That's when Littlefoot suddenly noticed a hole in the ground that looked just small enough for them all to go into. "Quick!" he called. "In here!" And as fast as their legs would carry them, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike all crawled into the hole, safe from the exterior elements, and not a moment too soon...

Outside, there was a scene of chaos being played out. The blast wave sent from the asteroid had just enveloped the entire valley with its brunt force. Not even the Great Wall could shield the valley from it, as it just went over the mountains and into the valley. Trees were uprooted and thrown around like common rag dolls. Rock formations collapsed and were swept up into the sky. Dinosaurs were sent flying into the walls of the valley. They were burned alive by the heat from the blast, being scalded alive, their flesh melting off of their bones, while their insides were cut to pieces by the particles of dust and glass, sending bodily fluids spurting out, which evaporated in the heat.

...

An hour later, the brunt force of the blast had subsided, with Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike still safe inside the hole. But outside, it was still the exact opposite, as they were soon to discover.

"Is it over?" Ducky asked, trembling with fear on Spike's leg. "What happened up there? Huh? Huh?"

"Let me check." And with that, Littlefoot poked his long neck out through the hole to look...

It was the most horrifying sight of his life. What was once their peaceful, prosperous Great Valley was now at least a million times worse than what they were trying to get away from on their way to the valley; something that could only be described as the equivalent of a nuclear wasteland. Every trace of green had faded to black, charred beyond recognition. Fires had sprung up all throughout the land, consuming what was left.

But what stunned Littlefoot most of all were the corpses; the carcasses of dinosaurs and other creatures they'd lived with littered the destroyed landscape. Their bodies were only barely recognizable, as their features had been melted off by the flesh-melting heat of the blast. Not a single creature within Littlefoot's line of sight was alive; it seemed as if they were the only survivors of this catasrophe.

As the sun was then blotted out completely by a huge cloud of dust, and as the temperatures began to drop rapidly, starting what would become known as an impact winter, Littlefoot contracted his head back into the hole; the sheer shock of the horror that he had just seen caused him to suddenly cry uncontrollably.

"Oh my... is it really that bad?"

As Littlefoot continued to sob, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike jumped as they noticed that they were not the only ones in the hole; there were not one, but two other creatures there with them. Both were small, about the same size as Cera and Spike, and were furry mammals, and they very much resembled creatures that millions of years later would be known as badgers or opossums (they were actually of a species known as Didelphodon).

"How long you be here?" Petrie asked them in confusion.

"The whole time," replied one of them in a gruff voice. "This is our burrow. We would've kicked your asses out, but given the circumstances, we had no other choice but to let you shelter with us."

Then the other Didelphodon, the mate of the first one, squeezed through over to Littlefoot, who was still in a sobbing, crying fit. "Dear me, it really is that bad, isn't it?"

"It's horrible!" Littlefoot cried. "Everything is destroyed! The valley, the treestars, the other dinosaurs... all... all... GONE!" And he cried only harder.

"Oh my!" exclaimed the female mammal. "Are you sure everything is destroyed!"

"Mm-hmm!" Littlefoot sobbed.

"Whoa... I guess I'd better look." And the female Didelphodon poked her head out of the burrow, only to retract it back in a second later, her face twisted with shock and confusion."

"So it's true?" asked her mate. "EVERYTHING is gone?"

"Yes," groaned the female as acid rain began to fall outside, washing burnt nitrogen and carbon out of the atmosphere. "It's freezing cold out there, and yet everything's on fire. It's all gone!"

"So..." Ducky shivered at the thought of this unspeakable turn of events. "What do we do now? Huh? Huh?"

"I... guess all we can do is wait in here until it's safe to go out again," sighed the male Didelphodon. Cera let out a disgruntled sigh, and for a while after that, they all just stayed cooped up in the burrow, with no one saying word...


	3. A Legend

For what seemed like an eternity, other than Littlefoot's continued crying, the burrow was in a state of deafening silence. Thunder clapped and lightning flashed outside as the nitrogen and carbon-infested acid rain continued to fall, killing off most of the plant life that had somehow managed to survive the initial blast from the asteroid impact. But since the Didelphodon burrow was built in a way so that it curved horizontally once under the ground, this allowed them, along with their guests, to hunker down where they wouldn't get hit by the acid rain.

In time, Littlefoot regained in composure, and for a time after that, aside from the rain pelting the ground outside, everyone sat totally silent, all trying to contemplate how a natural disaster of this magnitude could've possibly occurred.

Then the male Didelphodon spoke up, breaking the silence. "Uh, forgive me," he said to his guests, "but I don't believe we have been properly introduced. My name's Snips."

"And I'm Tana," added the female Didelphodon. "I'm his mate," she pointed out as she and Snips briefly touched noses to show this fact.

"Well," Littlefoot said as he cleared his throat, digging back up the strength he needed to speak. "It is nice meeting you guys, I guess. I'm Littlefoot, the three-horn is Cera, the swimmer is Ducky, the flyer is Petrie, and the spike-tail is Spike."

"Pleasure, you guys," Tana said grimly. "I just wish we could've met under better circumstances."

"Alright, someone enlighten me!" Cera spoke out suddenly, trying unconvincingly to sound just as tough as always did. "Just how in the heck could this have all happened? I mean, we've been through skywater storms, smoking mountains, earth shakes, whirling winds and firestorms, and NOW something's come along that's supposedly destroyed everything and everyone out there! HOW?!"

"I... don't know, Cera," Littlefoot sniffed. As he said this, Snips went into a state of deep thought. Something about the cataclysmic nature of this event reminded him of a certain legend that had gone through his kind from generation to generation down throughout the millions of years they'd been on Earth, hiding in the dinosaur's shadows.

"Call me crazy," he said to Littlefoot and company, "but I think this all may have been caused by... a flying rock."

"A flying rock?!" Ducky asked incredulously. "But I never would have thought that a flying rock could do something like this! No, no, no!"

"Well..." said Tana in a cryptic, mysterious voice. "Legend has it amongst our kind that well over 160 million years go, probably a ways further back, a gigantic flying rock the size of a huge mountain crashed into Earth."

"Are you serious?" Cera asked in a state of awe. "That doesn't sound right."

"Well, that's how the legend goes," added Snips. "It is said that the Earth nearly died when that happened - over 90 percent of all living things wiped from existence in the blink of an eye just like that."

"Wait," Petrie broke in. "You saying that is what happening now?"

"We'll get to that," Tana said. "Anyway, it is said that both our kind and your kind evolved around the same time a few million years after that. Your kind ascended to a tyrannical rule of the Earth, while our kind was doomed to live in the shadows until an event of such nature happened again, which it seems to have now."

"What do you mean?" asked Littlefoot.

"In other words," explained Snips, "you dinosaurs and your reign over our Earth was brought about when that flying rock hit and nearly killed everything. And the legends have said that eventually, when the time came, another flying rock would hit, killing off all the dinosaurs and ending your kind's rule, thus heralding the dawn of our kind's rule over all the world."

Upon hearing these words, Cera suddenly became really genuinely scared, not making any effort to conceal it. "Are you saying," she said with a prominent shiver in her voice, "that... the age of the dinosaurs is over?!"

"Well that is how the legends go," said Tana. "And everything certainly does seem to be adding up."

"So..." Littlefoot hesitated before asking, "are we... the only dinosaurs left?"

"I wouldn't say the only ones," Snips mused. "But you're certainly one of the few to have survived, and-"

"Wait!" Ducky broke in, tears forming in her eyes. "What about our parents?" With a sniff, she added, "Are they... gone, too?"

These very words caused Tana's heart to sink as she walked up and put a consoling paw on Ducky's back. "I... I'm sorry," she stammered, "but it's generally the smaller land walkers and sea creatures that are said to survive these things, and considering how big your species' get," she said sadly, "it is likely that all of your parents were taken with all those other ones."

For several minutes, the burrow is once again plunged into deafening silence. Snips and Tana can only look on helplessly as Littlefoot and company all come together into a group embrace, tears flowing rapidly out of all of their eyes, mourning their quite-possibly dead parents, and left to wonder how they will make it through this apocalyptic event without them there.

"Whatever can we do for them?" Tana asked her mate.

"I'm not sure," Snips said grimly. "I know we won't be good at finding them food, since they don't eat meat. The worst part is, I'm not sure what plants up there have survived, if at all. And come to think of it, I'm not even sure if any of the meat on the dead dinosaurs will be good for US to eat."

"Well either way," said Tana rather sternly, "we can't just abandon these poor babies. I mean, look at them!"

And indeed, when Snips saw Littlefoot and his friends all shedding tears over the loss of their families, his mate's point hit him like a ton of bricks. "You're right, dear," he conceded. "We're just as lucky to survive as they are, and I suppose we should help them along with us however we can."

With that, Tana gave her mate an affectionate nudge and then the two walked up to Littlefoot and his friends, who by now had regained their composure.

"Listen, you guys," said Snips. "We're both really sorry that this has happened, and we're really sorry for your families, but even if the legends are true and this is the end of your kind's reign, and even if that is what will herald the rule of our kind, we'll still be here to look after you through this however we can."

"That's right," affirmed Tana. "After all, we did save you by allowing you to come into our burrow just as the flying rock hit, and we cannot afford to let young ones go out there all alone after something like this, so we'll try our best to, dare I say... be your parents, or parental figures, or whatever."

Needless to say, all of the kids are taken aback upon hearing this. "You'd... you'd do that for us?" asked Littlefoot.

"Why, of course," Tana grinned. "Besides, I'm just unable to have children of my own - I never could get pregnant no matter now hard or how much Snips and I tried... you'll be like the children we never had!"

"But all we can do for now," Snips pointed out, "is stay hunkered down in here until the skywater stops; I don't know what kind it is, but it burns! We'll have to wait until it stops before we see if there is any good food or water left up there."

And so, with neither Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie nor Spike willing to object to Snips's advice, they all remained in the burrow together under the watchful eyes of their new unofficial parents, waiting until such time as the acid rain would stop...


	4. Heaven's Door

It seemed to go on forever. The acid rain continued to pelt the barren, destroyed landscape, and as long as that went on, all Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Snips and Tana could do was wait it out in their burrow.

"Oh, this is horrible!" Littlefoot squeaked. "Our valley is gone, our families are gone, everything else seems to be gone, and if what Snips and Tana said about the end of the dinosaurs is true... then I see no hope!"

"I thought we told you, that's just a legend," Tana pitched in, trying to reassure him.

"I don't know," Cera said suspiciously. "You and your mate seemed to be looking forward to this whole end of the dinosaurs thing."

Snips's face suddenly flushed red with embarrassment; he had not met to offend the children with that tale he and his mate told - he was just telling it like it always had been. "Well," he said haltingly, "the thought of our kind taking over always did seem exciting... then again, we never thought anything like this would ever happen."

"But trust me, you guys are nothing like the dinosaurs from the legends," Tana chipped in. "They spoke of dinosaurs as evil, sadistic overlords who ruled with an iron fist and swept aside all lesser creatures. And when it came to evil, they were so heartless that when they diversified into different kinds, they even turned away on each other!"

"Yeah, but look at you!" Snips marveled. "All sorts of different types congregating together as if you were all one species!" He then chuckled, "I bet your folks didn't take too kindly to that, you naughty devils!"

"Well..." said an embarrassed Cera. "My dad didn't anyway..." The mere thought of her father suddenly caused her to feel very down again.

"Yeah, well," Snips said, equally grimly, "they certainly wouldn't like you being friends with us."

"But... we like you," Ducky grinned. "Right, Spike?" Spike nodded.

"Well, they's very sweet of you children," Tana said, "but our kind has a bad reputation amongst yours."

"What you mean?" Petrie asked curiously. "Please tell. We promise not to judge."

"Yeah, come on, tell us!" Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky all urged.

"We... don't want to talk about it," Snips sighed, hanging his head.

"But-"

"No!" Tana snapped. "We... don't want you to hate us."

This stunned the kids into silence. The Didelphodon seemed very ashamed and guilty about something, and they weren't sure what. They seemed like such kind and generous creatures, and what could they have possibly done to give themselves such a bad reputation amongst dinosaurs, they wondered...

...

But eventually, everyone took notice to the fact that it was unusually quiet outside. The acid rain had finally stopped, having moved onto someplace else where the nitrogen and carbon was to be washed out of the atmosphere.

"Is it... safe to go out, now?" Littlefoot asked nervously.

"Seems to be," shrugged Snips. "But I'd better have a look, just in case." And he quickly poked his head out of the burrow to scan the environment around him;

"The burning skywater seems to have put out all the fires," he called from above. "Not a living thing in sight from where I stand, though... not sure what food we'll be able to find."

"It's worth a shot, dear," Tana called back before turning to the kids. "Come along, now, we gotta see what food we can salvage. Just stick to us and you'll be fine."

And so the entire gang crawled out of the burrow and up onto the surface world; neither Cera, Ducky, Petrie nor Spike could believe their eyes! It was just as Littlefoot as described it - everything they could see had been charred to black, trees and rock formations lay scattered all around, and worst of all; the landscape was littered with the scalded, decrepit carcasses of many a dead dinosaur.

"It's okay, kids," Tana said when she noticed the traumatized expressions on their faces. "You'll be fine, just stay close to us." And so, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Snips and Tana all strode out into the barren landscape.

It was an awful experience. Everywhere they looked, another dead creature - be it a dinosaur, pterosaur or something else - stared at them through dead, open eyes (if they weren't already burned off). And just as Snips said, there was not a living thing in sight - not even plants to feed off of.

As they continued on, with Littlefoot and his friends feeling more and more tense with each step, they were then suddenly calmed down some when Snips broke into a grim song;

_Mama take this badge from me_

_I can't use it anymore_

_It's gettin' dark, too dark to see_

_Feels like I'm knockin' on Heaven's door_

Then Tana broke in and she and Snips sang together;

_Mama put my guns in the ground_

_I can't shoot them anymore_

_That cold black cloud is comin' down_

_Feels like I'm knockin' on Heaven's door_

_You just better start sniffin' your own rank subjugation Jack_

_'Cause it's just you against your tattered libido, the bank and the mortician_

_Forever man_

_And it wouldn't be luck if you could get out of life alive_

_Knock knock knockin' on Heaven's door_

_Knock knock knockin' on Heaven's door_

_Knock knock knockin' on Heaven's door_

_Knock knock knockin' on Heaven's door_

"Beautiful," mused Littlefoot as he and his friends were brought into a more contained state by the soothing sounds of Snips and Tana's voices. But then, something else arrived to spoil it;

"PETRIE?!"

At first, no one knew what just happened, but Petrie recognized that voice anywhere;

"Ma... MAMA?!"

Indeed, it was Petrie's mother - she, being not real big in comparison to many other dinosaurs, had managed to take shelter and survive the blast from the initial impact. Ever since the acid rain cleared, she had been flying all around, looking for survivors; Petrie, his friends, and the two Didelphodon have been the only ones she's seen thus far.

"Oh, Petrie, I can't believe you made it!" cried Petrie's mother as she swooped down and enveloped her son in a bone-crushing hug, leaving Petrie unable to express his own delight, being unable to talk while his mom's arms are crushing him.

"Nice to see you too, Mama," Petrie panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, and I see all of your friends made it too," said Petrie's mom ecstatically. "Oh, and I don't believe we've met," she added when she saw the two Didelphodon accompanying them.

"Oh, well," Snips said, "your son and his friends came into our burrow when the blast came, and we've taken them out trying to find something for us all to eat and drink."

"But so far," Tana sighs, "we've been without luck."

"I know what you mean," Petrie's mom says consolingly. "I've been flying all around here ever since the burning skywater cleared, and the only good stuff I've been able to find is near the water, and-"

"The WATER!" Snips burst out excitedly. "Of course! WHY the hell didn't I think of it before?! Oh man, if I didn't have a mate, I'd kiss you!" he said, earning a jealous shot from Tana.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Petrie's mom said awkwardly. "Now come on, I'll take you all to the water."

"Wait!" Littlefoot broke in. "What about our parents? Have they made it?"

"I'm... sorry, Littlefoot," sighed Petrie's mom. "But all the other dinosaurs I've seen are... dead."

As Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike all started to hang their heads, Tana stepped in. "Alright, enough of this!" she said, hoping to get the kids' minds off such negative things. "We all gotta get something in our stomachs. Lead the way, flyer!"

And with a grin, Petrie's mom, with Petrie flying close behind, led Littlefoot, his other friends and the Didelphodon on their way to the nearest watering hole - however, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike still felt sad that their own folks apparently didn't make it, unlike Petrie's mother...

But in time, they made it to a large lake in the middle of the valley. It was still full of water, and there was even some green food still alive around the water's edge.

"Wait, better see if it's good, first," Snips insisted as he cautiously moved up to the water, unsure of its quality. But he then quickly took a swig.

"The water's fine!" he announced. Quickly, Tana joined him and stay slugged on water together, as did Petrie, his mother and his friends. Indeed, the water did seem just as delicious as what they always drank. Even the green food was still good.

"Here, you two want some?" Littlefoot offered to Snips and Tana.

"Uh... no thanks," Tana said hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" Littlefoot pressured. "I think you'll need it."

"No, we'll be fine," Snips insisted. "It's you who needs it. Go on, eat up, now." And so Littlefoot kept on eating with his friends while Snips and Tana kept on drinking, with what seemed to be shame showing through their eyes...

Then it happened. Just as Petrie was having one last swig of water, he thought he heard something moving out in the middle of the lake. He jumped.

"What is it, Petrie?" inquired his mother. "You see something?"

Just as she said that, Petrie thought he saw the backbone of a large creature poking out of the water and then diving back down again. "Me no know!" he said, starting to shiver. "But it real scary here!"

"Oh come now, Petrie," assured his mother. "This spot's perfectly safe. Anything dangerous around here surely would've been k-"

But then they all saw it. With a great torrent of water being kicked up, out came a long neck, on top of which was the fearsome head of a creature that would eventually come to be known as Cryptoclidus. The beast let out a loud, menacing shriek, leaving everyone at the water's edge totally petrified.

"MAMA!" cried Petrie. But it was too late. The Cryptoclidus snapped at Petrie's mother, enveloping her entirely in its massive jaws. "NO!" Petrie shrieked as it dragged his mother down into the water, leaving a pool of visible blood behind. Underneath the surface, Petrie's mom had met her doom, as a combination of water pressure, along with the teeth of the Cryptoclidus shearing her to pieces, ripping her wings off from her shoulders and grinding at her internal organs as the monster chewed her up and swallowed her while looking for more food.

Back up at the water's surface, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Spike simply stood frozen, eyes and mouth wide open, unable to believe the display of brutality that they'd just seen. As for Petrie, he has buried his face into Tana's chest, crying hysterically as Tana and Snips both look on helplessly, unable to think of any way to comfort him.

"Come on, all," Snips then spoke up sternly. "We can't stay here."

"Uh, I'm with you on that!" Cera said hastefully as she, Littlefoot and Snips began to hurry away from the water's edge, eager to get away from any other sea monsters that might've moved in.

"Here, you two take him," Tana insisted. And she placed the sobbing Petrie on Spike's back, where he instantly collapsed into Ducky's arms. With that, Tana and Spike, with Ducky and Petrie on his back, hurried to catch up with Littlefoot, Cera and Snips, all the while with Ducky helplessly crooning "Poor Petrie!" as he continued to sob uncontrollably.

...

For a long time, the entire brigade crept on in silence, trying not to take in all the sights of the death and destruction that surrounded them in every direction. As they came into the final clearing before the passageway that led out of the valley, they suddenly heard movement from not far away.

"Holy crap, there's something alive over there!" Snips jumped.

"Well c'mon, dear, let's check it out!" Tana urged.

"We'll be right behind you," affirmed Littlefoot as the whole gang all moved slowly and warily over to the source of the noise, unsure of what could be causing it or what it could do to all of them.

And then they saw it for what it was - it was a living, breathing dinosaur! It had survived the initial blast, but it was in very bad shape, staggering slowly along - evidence that it was badly shaken and injured by the impact. Looking closely at it, they all saw it to be a stoney gray-colored twofooter of a species that would come to be known as Hypsilophodon.

Seeing how bad of a shape it was in, Snips and Tana became eager. Littlefoot and his friends, however, were shocked when they saw the dinosaur's face - they knew exactly who it was.

"H... Hyp?"

The dinosaur, apparently known by the name of Hyp, turned to face them, and became just as shocked when he recognized them. "L... Littlefoot?"

"JACKPOT!" Having not paid attention to what had just happened, Snips and Tana suddenly went charging at Hyp like rabid dogs, their mouths watering profusely, sensing a meal coming, while Littlefoot and his friends could only watch as their two Didelphodon confidants closed in for the kill...


	5. Brutality and Assurance

Neither Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie nor Spike could bear to watch. And yet, they couldn't prevent themselves from doing so, for they had never before seen such a display of brutality in person before - especially one committed by creatures who had become trusted friends of theirs.

Hyp didn't even have the time or the strength to react as the Didelphodon pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. The air all around was filled with Hyp's agonizing cries as Snips and Tana's teeth and claws ripped and tore into his underbelly. Blood gushed out from him like bullets, the taste of which on the Didelphodon's tongues was as sweet as nectar to them. Hyp was totally defenseless; all he could do was scream and writhe around as Snips's teeth clamped down on his jugular, sending out a fountain of blood like a geyser. And just like that, as more and more blood left his body, along with his strength, the adolescent Hypsilophodon's ghastly cries faded away as he fell flat to the ground entirely. After that, he saw and heard no more.

Needless to say, Littlefoot and his friends could not believe that creatures that they befriended would act so viciously towards another; even though they had managed to befriend a family of tyrannosaurs once before, they'd never seen them making a kill, nor did they expect to see it from a creature as small and seemingly insignificant as Didelphodon. Snips and Tana, however, were totally indifferent to the shock on the young ones' faces as they drooled uncontrollably over the carcass of Hyp.

"Oh, baby, I haven't had a meal like this in ages," Snips shuddered orgasmically.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Tana marveled. "Let's dig in!"

And so they did. They furiously dug into the meat on the Hypsilophodon carcass, ripping off large mouthfuls and wolfing the flesh down their throats, sipping up any spare blood they could get their tongues on as they stuffed their faces with the sweet, fresh flesh.

Eventually, Littlefoot brought himself to speak up. "Hold on, let me get this straight," he said, causing Snips and Tana to look up from their meal. "You guys eat... meat?"

Snips and Tana exchanged awkward glances before Snips brought himself to answer, "Yes, Littlefoot. We do eat meat."

"Well," Littlefoot reasoned, "that explains why you refused my treestars earlier."

"But surely," Tana added, "you wouldn't judge us by our diets... would you?"

"Oh no, no, no!" Ducky assured them. "It's just that, well, you both seemed like such kind and caring tickly fuzzies."

"But here you are, having just slaughtered an innocent fast runner as if you were giant Sharpteeth!" pointed out Cera.

"Well honestly," explained Tana, "we normally would only eat animals that were already dead, but neither Snips nor myself had had a real good meal in days, and that fast runner was real weak, and we just took the opportunity when we saw it."

"Oh, so you're normally scavengers?" Littlefoot clarified.

"And egg stealers, too," Snips pointed out. "Don't forget that."

"YOU'RE EGG STEALERS?!" the kids all spoke out, clearly shocked to hear this coming from their new guardians' mouths.

"Well it's the truth!" Tana confessed. "Sorry, we didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Wait," Cera realized as it all started to make sense to her. "Is THIS what you meant by the bad reputation your kind had amongst our kind?" Snips and Tana said nothing; they only nodded with their faces twisted with shame, praying that their new unofficial family wouldn't shun them.

But none of them seemed to have developed such feelings towards them "It's all right," Littlefoot reassured them. "It's just that, well, we all had a bad experience with a couple of egg stealers once. Not your kind, though, but still."

"Yeah, it would've served them right if those Sharpteeth had eaten them!" Cera growled through her beak.

"Oh believe me," Snips intoned grimly. "Many of our kind have been eaten trying to raid Sharptooth nests."

"Many of our own family members and friends have suffered their fate," Tana sighed, hanging their head. "For the longest time, the only real companionship Snips and I have had is each other. Then you came along."

Hearing these words, Littlefoot was again reminded that all creatures had emotional needs just like those of his own kind, even the vicious carnivores. "Gee, I... I had no idea," he said, trying to console the two Didelphodon.

"There just one thing," Petrie asked uneasily. "You would not do any of that to us, would you?"

Snips and Tana looked at the kids as if they had all just made a suicide pact. "Don't say that!" Tana begged, getting close to tears. "We would never do anything of the sort to you! We love you!"

"Yeah, we may not have the same diet as you children do," Snips grinned, "but like we told you, we'll be here to look after you. You're safe with us!"

For a while, the kids all just looked into Snips and Tana's smiling faces, hoping that after what they'd done for them so far, that they meant what they said here. Spike, however, seemed convinced. With a hearty grin, he reached out with his tongue and gave Snips and Tana both affectionate licks on their cheeks; Snips and Tana both giggled, and this display had Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie all convinced that the two Didelphodon, despite their own violent tendencies, were still their friends.

"Uh, now if you'll excuse us," Snips then said. "We haven't yet eaten our fill."

"You don't have to look if you don't want to," Tana assured them as she and her mate ran back over to the carcass.

But Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike all watched very intently as Snips and Tana dug back in to Hyp, eating the rest of their fill of the carcass. After all, this was the first time that either of them had seen this aspect of nature in person before. As depraved as it was to see Snips and Tana wolfing the flesh of another dinosaur down their throats, it was, at the same time, intriguing. After all, it was just a different lifestyle from their own, and was in no way inherently evil.

In time, the two Didelplodon had eaten their fill. Not much was left of Hyp's carcass; the majority of it had been reduced to just bones. The only things that could still get a meal from it were the surviving insects (which they called buzzers) that were already swarming desperately around it.

"Well, we're all good on food and water," Snips announced. "Now we all have to get out of here - this place is no longer safe!"

"What you mean?" Petrie asked incredulously. "There be... Sharpteeth out there!"

"Yeah, and look what happened to your mother!" Snips replied sternly. "It's only a matter of time before other carnivores find there way here and pick us all off!"

"Oh... don't remind Petrie!" Petrie moaned as he buried his face, unable to bear an episode of the memory of his mother being snatched away from him by that pleisiosaur.

"Nice going, Snips," snapped Tana. "You done made the poor little guy cry!"

"I'm just telling it like it is," Snips said, defending himself. "I know you all love this valley, we do too. But it's now just as dangerous as the rest of the land out there; there's hardly anything left for either of us to eat or drink, and now there's nothing to stop the carnivores from trapping us here and making us their entrees! Our best and likely option, is to leave this valley before they corner us first."

Noticing the kids' unwilling expressions, Tana assured them, "We'll all go together, and we will not abandon you for anything. After all, you're like the family Snips and I never had!"

She needn't have said any more. The words "together" and "family" were all that was needed to move Littlefoot and friends.

"OK, Petrie go." proclaimed Petrie, having gotten a grip on himself.

"Us too!" added Littlefoot. Cera, Ducky and Spike all nodded in agreement.

"Very well," Snips nodded. "Let's all get started now, while our fuel tanks are still on full."

And so on they all went, towards the passageway that led out of the Great Valley and into the open environment that lay under the blackened skies all around them...


	6. Terror Bird

It was about as solemn as they had all felt since the asteroid first hit. They were all now leaving the Great Valley; the one slice of heaven in the great swath of hell that was the land of the dinosaurs, which according to the Didelphodon, had now fallen in favor of their own mammalian kind. They had, of course, ventured out into the land that they called Mysterious Beyond many times in the past, and they and their folks all once had to leave in search of food when the valley fell victim to a locust plague. Now, however, it seemed all but certain that this would be the last that they would ever see of their old home.

Underneath the skies, blackened by dust, ash and glass, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Snips and Tana all crossed through the pass and out of the valley. What with the total destruction that the land within the Great Valley had suffered, the land outside of the valley was now totally indistinguishable from the land inside of it. Even so, they continued on their way out into the barren wilderness, with the hopes of making it to another place in which green food and water had still survived.

As they went on their way, Snips and Tana, reflecting on the peaceful, happy times that even insignificant creatures as themselves had spent in the Great Valley, once again broke into a song to commemorate their old home;

_There is a land out there somewhere_

_They call the Great Valley_

_And it's been the savior of many a poor boy_

_And Lord I know that's me_

These words had a particularly moving effect on Littlefoot; indeed, that land had been his savior as well, and of his friends, too. So much so that he, too, was led to sing along;

_My mom I lost to Sharptooth_

_While she was nurturing me_

_My father roamed while I went alone_

_To that Great Valley_

_Now the only things a farwalker needs_

_Are a vision and a place_

_And the only time we'll be satisfied_

_Is when we've found that place_

They all allowed themselves to be absorbed by those words - how ever so true they were. Then Cera even managed to break in and sing a bit;

_O Mother, tell your children_

_To go on the path that led me_

_They'd be led to a life of prosperity_

_In the land called the Great Valley_

Ducky and Petrie even took a verse together;

_But now it's just a wasteland_

_Our paradise is lost_

_We're going from that Great Valley_

_To survive no matter the cost_

Then finally, they all sang;

_O there is a land out there somewhere_

_They call the Great Valley_

_And it's been the savior of many a poor boy_

_And Lord I know that's me_

"And they say that's a song fit only for the animals!" chortled Snips as he earned a little nuzzle from Tana while the kids all laughed with him.

"But seriously," chipped in Littlefoot. "I'm gonna miss that place."

"Aren't we all," agreed Cera as they all nodded.

...

Much later, they found themselves meandering through the rock formations that had dotted the area around the Great Valley - a surefire sign that they had left it far behind by now. Aside from that, there was nothing different - the Bright Circle did not shine, and there were no signs of life to be found anywhere.

"Oh, I hope we find food someday," Ducky moaned. "I do, I do."

"Well, the Great Valley wasn't the only place with food and water," assured Littlefoot before he heaved a sad sigh. "Then again, who knows if any of those places have survived."

"At least we managed to fill up, first," noted Cera. "Then again, Spike is a bottomless pit; his stomach can't be satisfied."

"Spike-tails are known to be greedy eaters," agreed Tana as Spike blushed red.

"Me be darned if that not be the truth!" Petrie affirmed.

"Well there sure as hell isn't anything out here," said Snips. "It's no wonder we all busted our asses to get to that valley in the first place. But we musn't lose hope; that, I know, it what will keep us from tearing each other apart. After all, the old saying does go, 'If we hold on together, I know our dream will never die.'"

"Hmm, well said, sweetie," commended Tana as the kids all cracked smiles over his words.

But then, just as the moment was sealed, a menacing shriek rang out from the distance behind them. Startled out of their wits, especially since they thought no other living thing was anywhere near them, they turned and saw a ferocious creature approaching them rapidly; a creature unlike any they'd ever seen before.

It was a Sharpbeak - something the kids had all seen before. However, this was nothing like the Ichthyornis that they had fought against that one time. This Sharpbeak was incapable of flight, yet it stood a grand 2.5 meters tall, sporting long legs and running at them at speeds approached only by the fast biters, or raptors. It would eventually come to be known as a terror bird, and it was chasing the gang down with the goal of making a kill.

"RUN FOR IT!" bellowed Snips as they all broke into a run. They went as absolutely fast as their legs would carry them, yet the terror bird ran them down as if they were all standing still. This would, however, not be of a hindrance to any of our prehistoric pals... that is, except Spike; he was the last in line, so the terror bird homed in on him...

"SPIKE! NO!" Ducky cried out. But it was too late. The terror bird's beak struck Spike like a lightning bolt, stopping him dead in his tracks as a ghastly wail escaped from his lungs. Again and again, the lancer that was the bird's beak hit Spike, breaking his bones like white bread and ripping his flesh like scraps of paper and spilling his blood on the ground all around him, his screams becoming louder, and then becoming more and more faint until they faded out entirely and he breathed his last - he was now just a lifeless husk, and a quick and easy meal for the terror bird as it dug in, quickly ripping off large chunks of the succulent green flesh and the plump fat underneath.

Meanwhile, the kids and the Didelphodon hid behind a nearby pile of rocks, watching everything. This, now, had officially taken the cake for the most awful, catastrophic thing any of them had ever seen; none of them, however, felt it harder than Ducky did. To her, Spike was her brother; her family had adopted him as one of their own, and despite the vast differences between their respective species, they'd all lived together harmoniously. Now, after eluding and defeating carnivorous creatures of all sorts many, many times over, things had finally caught up with them, and Spike, the most big-hearted friend they could possibly ask for, was now just scraps on a terror bird's dinner plate.

As the monstrous avian fiend lopped up the last few scraps of what was left of Spike, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie began to cry, the sobs tearing through their bodies, crushing like the 3,000 pounds per square inch inflicted by the bite of a T. Rex. As for Snips and Tana, they had never felt as helpless as they did this time; their hearts were tugged at so greatly that they cuddled up to each other, trying to find comfort in each other's closeness. But that proved to be a failure, as they too were brought to tears over the devastating loss that had just occurred...


End file.
